TOWNSVILLE QUICK TO GET FIRST WINS ON THE BOARD
TOWNSVILLE’S NBL1 North teams have started their season in style with both the Flames and Heat posting comfortable wins over the visiting Ipswich Force.
The Flames cruised to an impressive 101-64 victory behind massive games from Townsville Fire duo Courtney Woods (28 points, eight rebounds) and Steph Reid (23 points, seven assists).
Townsville led by 11 at the first break to have the home crowd rocking at Starfm Stadium on Friday night and while Ipswich stemmed the tide in the second term the Flames came out after the break and won the third quarter 36-16 to put the contest to bed.
Jaimee Seebohm was also immense with a 16-point, 18rebound double-double.
Flames coach Shannon Seebohm was impressed with his side’s fast start to its 2022 campaign.
For the Heat, local product Ethan Betts led all scorers with 21 points, shooting eight from 11 from the field, and added six assists as Townsville won 75-66.
Betts received good support from Kiwi guard
Taine Wattie (17 points, three steals), Richard Peachey (16 points, nine rebounds) and import big man Deandre Daniels (10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks).
Ipswich held a 39-35 lead at halftime but the Heat tightened the screws on defence after the long break, holding the visitors to just 27 second-half points to earn a hard-fought win.
“We made a few defensive adjustments on their guys after halftime and really tried to hone in on their import Henry Pwono and Majok Deng, who plays in the NBL,” Betts said.
“We paid more attention to those two and were able to keep them pretty quiet.”
After an interrupted preseason Betts was impressed with how his team came together as a unit so quickly.
“We didn’t really have that much time together in the pre-season; Taine only got here the week before the season and Deandre hasn’t been here that long so we are all still trying to gel as a team,” he said.
Townsville’s teams will make the long trip to the Northern Territory in round 2, taking on newcomers Darwin Salties on Saturday.